Safety-grip.



J'. 0. CALDWELL.

SAFETY GRIP.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 22. all.

1,275,217. Patented A 13, 1918.

In v 6171-071" JOGaZdweZZ/ir I M M 4r 7 65 Jw 'Jr., of Boston,

fat

JOHN 0. CALDWELL, JR, or BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

' SAFETY-GRIP.

T 0 all'auhoin it concern 1 Be it known that I, J 01 m. O. CALDWELL,

The present invention relates to a shiftable grip adapted to be placedupon hand wheels or other elementsintended to 'be gripped by a personshand for the urpose -of giving a firm non-slipping grip, bu which canreadily be shifted-into various positions. The use which I have hadparticularly in mind in developing the invention is inconnectionwith'the steering wheel of automobiles, "which frequently must begripped firmly enough to prevent slipping between i the hand andthe-wheel, and of which the gripping point is frequently shifted.Accordingly I have invented a gripping sleeve which. can be placed onthe rim of such a wheel, can be shifted easily to the points where thewheel is gripped, and can be caused at need to bind tightly upon thewheel and thereby form such a tight frictional grip as absolutely toprevent slipping. Another object has been to make such a sleeve capableof being placed on the rim of a wheel, which ordinarily is acompletering or hoop, at any point desired, andwhich will not becomedislodged by the vibrations imparted to the wheel when the vehicle ofwhich thewheel is a partis in rapid motion.

With these ends in view I have made a gripping-sleeve having the.principles and char acteristics se'tforth in the. followingspecification and claims, and substantially as shown in the accompanyingdrawings forming a partof ings, '3 1 Figure 1 represents a partial planview of a steering wheel having two of the hand grips or grippingsleeves thereon. 1

Fig. .2 represents a development of the sleeve. and shows-the interiorthereof.

Fig. 3 shows a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a cross-section of the gripping sleeve in place upon a wheelrim.

Fig. 5 is=a longitudinal section of. the gripping sleeve.

The .samereference characters indicate the same parts' in all thefigures.

Specification of Letters Patent;

in the county of Suffolk and rState of Massachusetts, have inventedcerof which the following is a specifica the driver] I this application.In the draw-' In the drawings 1 representsthe rim of 1 Patented Au;1s,1e1s., -A licati nfilaivovemberze, 1911. Sefia1No'.661,855.

a wheel, such asthe steering wheel of an automobile.

Such rim is usually madeas a complete ring or'hoop'hav'ing anoval-orfelliptical cross section and secured to a num- I berof arms 2 whichradiate froinflthe steer As is well known-these wheel runs 1 ing baseareusuallymade of" hard wood having a I smooth finish. They areconsequently some- 2 a what slippery, particularly when wet, and thereisliability ofthe hands of. the driver slipping thereon when Iattempting to turn the wheel quickly. -Accidents have some-,

times occurred from thiscause wherethe slipping of the verted is myobject to eliminate hands of the driveron the wheel'have prevented thecar-from beingdiquickly enough to avoid fdanger. It danger from this Ihas a high coefficient of friction both'in contact with the wheelandwith the hand of My invention consistsofa sleeve capable i of beingopened lengthwise so that it may be slipped on and off of-a wheel rim ofthe character indicated,'and so made further that it can be caused tobind upon'the-wheel very tightly. Further, in order to give it thenecessary'frictional qualities it is preferably .made in large de ree ofrubber.

Two of the sleeves are represented at5 as applied to the wheel,showingtheir appearance in side view. As 4) each sleeve more thancompletely sur lapping through a considerable proportion shown in thesectional view (Fig.

' rounds the wheel rim and has-portionsover-g of the transversecircumferenceof the rim,

these overlapping parts being indicated at: 6and7inFig4. i

The sleeveis preferably made of rubber strengthened by textile fabricvulcanized in it. A portion 8 of the sleeve suiiicient in extent tosurround the wheel rim is given body enough to cause it to retain itsmolded shape, very nearly approximating the shape and size of the rimitself, but sufficiently larger than the latter tolfitfreely'thereon andbe readily moved. At one edge of-the body portion 8 is a flap whichforms the overlap-n flap is thin and flexible,

p1ng member 6 previously referred to. This and when the grip is placedon the wheel lies in a shallow re-f cess"9 formed in the body, as shownbest in .Figs. 2 and.3. The edgeof the body 8' which overlaps the flap 6is beveled to a thin edge which is adapted to occupy a shallow recess 10in the external face of the body 8 near the point of union thereof withthe flap 6. Thus when the\sleeve is placed on the wheel it forms ineffect a wrapping passing more than completely around the rim'and havingpractically smooth internal and external surfaces. The flap 6 occupiesthe re cess 9 which is equal in depth to the thickness of the flap, sothat the inner face of the flap becomes flush with the inner face of thebody part. i The external surface of the grip is likewise practicallysmooth, owing to the close fit which the beveled edge 10 may make in theexternal recess 1. Thus the grip is adapted to fit smoothly outside ofthe wheel rim and within the hand of the user.

In placing the grip on the wheel, the grip is opened and slipped overthe wheel rim, being-then allowed to close when released, owing to itsresilience. The flap 6 istu'cked under the overlying part 7 .The grip isso proportioned with relation to the wheel rim that it is spread opensomewhat, the end of the lip 6 not extending quite to the inner end ofthe recess 9, and the scarfed joint'be tween the edge 10 and the recess11 not being quite closed. Asthe material of which the grip is made hasenough stiffness to maintain its molded sleeve-like form, it remains onthe wheel without extraneous aid,

but does not of itself grip the wheel with too much firmness to permitof its being easily shifted. When it becomes necessary to secure a firmgrip on the Wheel, the driver need only twist the grip around the wheelrim in the direction which tends to move the scarfed edge 10 toward thepoint 12 shown in Fig. 4, whereupon the portion 7 slides upon the flap 6and the sleeve is caused to bind upon the wheel rim. The entire innersurface of the grip thus bears upon the wheel with as great a pressureas necessary, and owing to the frictional qualities of the material,slipping is impossible. At the same time a grip externally on the sleevesufiiciently firm to cause it to bind on the wheel rim prevents slippingbetween the hand of the driver and the grip itself. Thus the driver isenabled to get a firm grasp on the wheel, no matter how slippery it maybe, without exerting any great muscular force. As an additionalprecaution against slipping of the hand from the grip, the latter may be:provided with outwardly projecting beads or lips 14 on its ends,although these beads are not cssential, and may be omitted withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. In practice two grips areordinarily provided upon one wheel for the two hands. In order to claspor unclasp the grips upon the. wheel it is only necessary to turn the 7hand slightly around the wheel rim in the manner which one naturally andinstinctively employs. The mere act of turning'the wheel causes one ofthe hands gripping it to move away from the body, and in so moving thehand has a tendency to turn slightly around thewheel in the directionwhich tends to tighten the gripping member on the wheel. Thus inan emergency, when a quick change in the course of the car necessary,the natural and instinctive movements ofthe driver in turning on thewheel under conditions of the greati est vibration to which a carrapidly running over .a rough road is subject. There is no danger of thegrips falling from the wheel when the grasp upon them is relinquished.

It willbe appreciated from the foregoing that the grip is in efiect awrapping of flexible material having sufficient length to extend morethan entirely around the body on which it is mounted, which is moldedinto the form of a sleeve and has sufficient resilience to retain itsmolded shape. In other words it is a sleeve divided longitudinally witha flap extending from one part atthe line of division within and beneaththe adjacent part. Such sleeve normally retains a shape fitting easilythe article to which it is applied, but can'be distorted from this:shape with slight exertion sufliciently to be stripped from or appliedto the wheel or other object.

Although I have described the hand grip in connection with a wheel Iwish it to be understood that such a wheel is merely one article typicalof the many diverse things upon which the grip may be placed. Forinstance it might be made to fit a straight rod, or a rope, a guardrail, or other object which at times must be firmly gripped bfy the handand upon which it is'desirable or necessary to shift the grip.

1. A friction grip consisting of a wrapping of frictional materialshaped to fit the object upon which it is to be applied and of lengthsuflicient to more than entirely surround the object, having a flap atone edge and a recess in the inner face extending from the opposite edgeto receive such flap, and

being at the same time flexible, whereby'it In testimony whereof I haveafiix signature, in presence of two Witnesse for a complete wrappingabout the Wheel rim, and having in one end a, shallow recess adapted toreceive and overlie the other end of the sheet, the material on theinner sur- 5 face of the sheet at each end of the recess being arrangedto bear on the Wheel rim.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR H. BROWN, P. W. PEzzET'rI,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Washington, I). 0.

ed my S.

JOHN O. CALDWELL, JR.

Commissioner of Patents, 1

